Poultry-feeder



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

0.1 JOHNSON POULTRY FEEDER.

No. 581,120. *Pat'ent'e'd Apr. 20, 1897.

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2 t e nu h S m e e h S 2 H NE Hit 0 Y J R P U -0 O? (No Model.)

Patented Apr. 20

Orbandoimfohnson V UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

ORLANDO F. JOHNSON, OF GRAl VIMER, INDIANA.

POULTRY-FEEDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581,120, dated April 20, 1897.

Application filed October 9, 1895.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, ORLANDO F. J OHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grammer, in the county of Bartholomew and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Poultry-Feeder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to poultry-feeding devices, and has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient mechanism adapted to supply feed and water continuously, as they are consumed, While the supply in the reservoirs lasts, the parts being so constructed and arranged as to control the supply to the troughs and to facilitate replenishin g the reservoirs.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description and the'novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a feeder constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section showing the watertank inverted.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawlugs.

1 designates a base which is adapted to rest upon the surface of the ground or poultryhouse, and 2 represents a feed receptacle or reservoir which is of prismatoidal and preferably cross-sectionally hexagonal construction, a parallel-sided throat or extension 3 communicating with and depending from the lower side of the receptacle or reservoir. The heads of the receptacle or reservoir are extended to form the ends 4 of said parallelsided throat or extension, and these end walls of the throat or extension are provided with inverted-V-shaped notches 5 for the reception of an inverted-V-shaped deflector 6, forming a part of a verticallyadjustable double feed-trough 7. In the construction illustrated in the drawings this feed-trough is constructed, essentially, of a single sheet of metal upturned at its lateral edges and rounded to form the side troughs 7 and '7 and extended upward between said troughs to form the deflector 6, which projects upward into the throat or extension in the plane of the longitudinal center thereof.

The end walls of the troughs are formed by the vertical plates 8, which are spaced apart an interval corresponding with the length of the receptacle or reservoir and are adapted to bear against the exterior surfaces of the ends of the throat or extension. These end plates thus form guides to prevent longitudinal vibration and displacement of the troughs. To prevent lateral vibration and displacement of the troughs, I employ longitudinal guide rods 9, connecting the end plates slightly above the plane of the outer edges of the troughs and contiguous to the outer side surfaces of the throat or extension. Said guide-rods prevent deflection or bending of the end plates, and by operating in contact with the side surfaces of the throat insure the accurate vertical movement of the troughs when the latter are operated by means hereinafter described. The guide-rods perform the further function of combining with transverse wires 10 to form stalls which prevent poultry from scratching the contents of the troughs and thus scattering the feed. Said transverse wires extend from the guide-rods to the outer edges of the troughs.

The base is preferably provided with an opening 11, which is equal in area with the combined troughs, whereby when the troughs are lowered they are received in said opening, and in this way the outer edges of the troughs may be arranged in the plane of the upper surface of the base to provide for small poultry reaching the feed without mounting to the edge of the trough.

The means which I employ for vertically adjusting the troughs includes the standards 12, secured at their lower ends to the base and preferably consisting of looped rods having bearing-eyes formed at their upper extremities, and screw-rods or adj Listing-screws 13, mounted in said bearings and threaded in nuts 14:, fixed tothe outer surfaces of the end plates of the troughs. These screw-rods are preferably provided above the bearingeyes with collars l5 and at their upper extremities with rings or handles 16. By turning the screw-rods the troughs may be lowered in to the opening in the base sufficiently to form spaces between the lower edges of the sides of the throat and the bottoms of the troughs to allow feed in the receptacle or reservoir to pass down into the troughs or elevated sufficiently to bring said lower edges of the side walls of the throat in contact with the bottoms of the troughs to cut ot't' the sup ply of feed.

Inasmuch as the throat or extension depending from the lower side of the receptacle or reservoir is of less width than the receptacle or reservoir, the side walls of said throat being arranged at equal distances upon opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the receptacle or reservoir, the contiguous inclined sides 17 of the receptacle or reservoir overhang the troughs and thus preventrain from entering the latter and injuring the feed. Furthermore, the to of the receptacle or reservoir is extended to form flanges or eaves 1S, and the hinged lid or cover 19 is made of sufticient width to overlap the contiguous surfaces of the top or root and prevent the admission of moisture. Said lid or cover may be secured in its closed position by any suitable means, such as a hook 2O engaging an eye 21 on the undersurfaee of thelid orcovcr.

Secured at their ends to two of the standards by which the receptacle or reservoir is supported are the horizontal supportingrods 22, terminating in uprights $23, which are stopped in the base, integral bearing-eyes 2i being formed at the junction of said supporting rods and legs for the reception of the trunnions 25 of a reversible watertank 26. This water-tank is approximately cylindrical in construetion,wi th a communicating trough. 27, the trough communicating with the tank by means of outlet-openings 2S and superjacent air-vents 29. lVhen the water in the trough falls below the level of the vents 29, air is admitted to the interior of the tank to allow the escape of sulticient water to raise the level in the trough above the plane of the vents. \Vhen the vents are closed, the water is checked by atmospheric pressure. Furthermore, the bottom of the tank is straight and in the plane of the bottom of the trough, and inasmuch as the tank and trough are held in their operative position, as shown in Fig. 1, by the outer edge of the bottom of the trough resting upon the upper surface of the base it is' obvious that the bottom of the trough and the contiguous llatportion of the tank will be at an inclination downward toward the outer side of the trough to insure all of the contents of the tank passing into the trough.

hen it is desired to fill the tank, it may be inverted, as shown in Fig. 3, in which the upper edges of the trough rest upon the supporting-rods, the inlet-opening of the tank being uppermost and communicating with a feed-tube 30, which is arranged transversely in the tank and terminates contiguous to the normal upper side thereof, whereby when the tank is arranged in its normal position the extremity of said tube is above the level of the contents of the tank. This inlet-opening is fitted with a removable plug or stopper 31 and is surrounded by a groove or funnel 232.

From the above description it will be seen that the operation of the vertically-movable troughs to adjust the opening between the lower edges of the side walls of the throat and the bottoms of the troughs to suit the size of grain contained in the receptacle or reservoir may be accomplished with facility, and that after the receptacle or reservoir has been tilled the feed passes downward into the troughs as the contents of the latter are consumed.

It will be seen, furthermore, thatthe feeder is accessible from both sides, and. that the scattering of grain by the poultry is prevented by the guards which divide the exposed portions or the troughs into stalls.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination of a feed receptacle or reservoir having a depending parallel-sided and parallel-ended throat, looped standards arranged at the ends of and su )porting the receptacle, and provided with central bearingeyes, vertically-adjustable connectedtroughs accessible at opposite sides arrai'iged under the throat and adapted to be elevated to bring the iloors of the troughs in contact with the lower edges of the side walls of the throat, terminal parallel guide-plates forming the ends of the troughs and extended upwardly above the same to operate in contact with the outer surfaces of the end walls of the throat, longitudinal guide-rods connecting said extensions of the guide-plates to prevent spreading thereof, and operating in contact with the outer surfaces of the side walls of the throat to prevent lateral vibration of the troughs, and adjusting-screws mounted in said bearing-eyes and having collars to rest thereon, said screws engaging nuts fixed to the end walls of the trough and extending at their upper ends through the root of the receptacle, substantially as specified.

2. A reversible cylindrical tank having terminal axial trunnions mounted in suitable supporting-bearings, a vertical filling-tube communicating with a normally plugged opening in the lower side of thetank and extending approximately to the upper side thereof, and a trough attached to and carried by the tank and communicating with the interior of the tank by means of outlet-openings arranged below the plane of the upper edge of the trough, whereby said openings are adapted to be submerged to prevent the overflow of the trough, substantially as specified.

The combination of uprights and contiguous horizontal sup1 orting-rods having bear- IIO ings at their intersections, a reversible tank having terminal trunnions mounted in said bearings and provided in its bottom With a normally-closed filling-opening and a trough 5 carried by and communicating with the tank,

the communication with the tank being established by means of outlet-openings contiguous to the plane of the bottom of the trough and superjacent air-vents, and said trough [0 extending at its ends beyond the corresponding extremities of the tank to bear upon the supporting-rods When the tank is inverted, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in I 5 the presence of two Witnesses.

ORLANDO F. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

JAMES V. WRIGHT, JOSEPH O. PARKER. 

